Our Thinking

As a dedicated bunch of leadership development nerds, our team spends most of its time focused on people’s work lives. And whether the topic of the moment is coaching, collaboration, or change; everything we do shares some things in common. One of those things is taking an honest look at where we get off track. We’re always working to help people recognize how basic human drives get in our way and prevent us from engaging people and the real issues that matter. Then we challenge them with new approaches and tools to be more effective in their organizations.
At this time of year, I’m reminded that the family is an … [Read more...]

We’ve all heard the advice so many times: focus on what you can control. Right now, you can go on the internet and find any number of “inspirational memes” reinforcing that message. You’ve probably also seen a Venn diagram that looks something like this:
The great thing about Venn diagrams is that they always make the overlap area seem like the right choice. There’s even a strong case to be made for focusing on what you can control, if the only alternative is to bang your head against a brick wall in futility.
But this advice will bite you in the ass if you want to drive innovation or organizational … [Read more...]

Every field of study has its own running debates. How exactly did the dinosaurs go extinct? Do we live in a single universe or a multiverse? How can a three-dimensional figure have a finite volume and an infinite surface area? Did someone put the chocolate in the peanut butter or the peanut butter on the chocolate?
In organizational behavior, one of the running debates has to do with competence and sociability. It seems obvious that we’d prefer leaders who have lots of both, but those people appear to be in short supply. If you have to pick one, is it better to be a “competent jerk” or a “loveable fool”? … [Read more...]

Everybody Wants a Piece of Digital Transformation.
There’s a digital land-grab underway. Around every virtual corner, modern-day Colonel Sellers’ cry out, “there’s gold in them thar’ hills”. Everyone is rushing to fill the gaps in digital skills, so they can stake their claim. The internet is full of clickbait articles promising job-seekers advice on the sexiest and highest paying tech jobs. Companies are posting open req’s full of technical buzzwords: AI, IoT, Data Analytics, DevOps, Machine Learning, Full Stack, Cybersecurity, the list goes on…
Unfortunately, according to a LinkedIn/CapGemini report, … [Read more...]

Back in the 70’s, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer studied a phenomenon she called the Illusion of Control. That is the strong tendency people have to see their actions as causing things to happen, even when they have no impact whatsoever. She conducted a variety of studies to demonstrate this and many psychologists have repeated them over the years.
Controlled experiments are cool and all, but you and I don’t need to look farther than everyday life to know what she was talking about:
The sports fan who acts as though what jersey they wear, or what seat they occupy, has an impact on the outcome of a game they … [Read more...]

Myth #3: Leadership Is About Traits
The leadership industry is obsessed with defining the traits of leaders. What are the elements of personality, character, or style that mark the successful leader?
Some hold up the vague example of celebrity CEO’s, like Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos, and simply suggest aspiring leaders emulate them. That’s not particularly helpful for the average leader who isn’t the idiosyncratic founder and CEO of a giant tech company. Others attempt to offer more specific breakdowns. AMA has this list of “traits”. CCL calls some of theirs “characteristics”. Here’s an HBR article that refers … [Read more...]

3 Myths of Leadership Development (Part Deux)
Some myths are harmless, like Santa Claus. Sure, he’s not real, but he brings joy to children and encourages generosity – at least enough to balance out the tacit endorsement of consumerism. As I mentioned in my last post, a lot of common ideas about learning and development are kind of like that.
Others are downright dangerous.
Today I want to talk about a common misconception that has crept into a lot of leadership development practices:
Content = Learning
Now most people would probably say they don’t believe that statement to be true. But, if you … [Read more...]

3 Myths of Leadership Development (Part 1)
An interesting thing about the corporate learning and development field is that it’s not based on a foundational set of principles or research. Its most effective practices typically come from hard-won experience, tradition and craft learned on the job. However, many of its common beliefs are really just myths, rumors, or clever marketing that have been repeated enough times.
Some of these misconceptions are baseless but innocuous, like 70/20/10 or 90% of what you read starting with the prefix “neuro”. Even though the research is garbage, getting people to think … [Read more...]

Engage Your People!
Straight up. Your people should be engaging the real issues, the elephant in the room. It’s good for their development, your company’s performance and it’s what virtually every culture desperately needs.
Engage places a premium on competence, not courage. Sure, courage is part of it. But, when people build skill, they build confidence. This is what enables them to take smart risks and make a real difference—without getting themselves into a career limiting jam.
Keep in mind, engage is a lot more than people having a critical conversation. A conversation here and there when things … [Read more...]